William ellerd-styles



W. ELLERD-STYLES.

ELEQTRICAL SWITCH- APPLICATION FILED MAY27.19I8' Patented Jim 10, 1919.

WILLIAM ELLERD-STYLES, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 10, 1919.

Application filed May 27, 1918. Serial No. 236,901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ELLERD- STYLES, a subject of the King of Great Brit- 7 ain and Ireland, residing at 81 Rosebery avenue, London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Electrical Switches, of which the following is a full and completespecification.

This invention relates to water and gas tight electrical switches of the rotary type, intended for use in mines, ships, hangars, airships, chemical works, and other places where gas, water or corrosive or other deleterious elements are likely to be present.

The present invention comprises essentially an improved form of key or handle for the switch spindle in combination with means for rendering the said spindle and also the entering ends of the cables to the switch housing, water tight.

The operating key 'or handle is attached to the spindle of the operating mechanism by forming the spindle with a squared or other suitably shaped end adapted to engage a correspondingly shaped recess in the'under the key or handle and the side of the key or handle, forming a flanged sleeve-through which the spindle passes attached to the housing and forming on the under side of the flange of said sleeve concentric depressions adapted to be engaged by similarly shaped projections formed concentrically on aring adapted to screw into a recess in the under side of the key or handle.

The means for rendering the spindle of entering ends of the cable to the switch housing water tight comprise glands or stuffing boxes having conically shaped seatings in the housing of the switch, gaskets or packing rings of rubher or like resilient material-preferably of acircular cross 'sectioncontacting with said seatings and adapted. to be caused to tightly embrace the parts to be rendered fluid or gas tightfby similarly coned shaped seatings arranged to be screwed or otherwise attached'to the housing so as to exert pres sure on the said gaskets or packing rings to makefluid or gas tightjoints. I

I will now more particularly describe my invention making reference to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a sectional view in side elevation with the contacts andmake and break mechanism omitted for the sake of clearness, and

Fig. 2 is a view inplan partly in section.

In both views similar parts are marked with like letters of reference.

The means which I at present adopt for carrying this invention into efiect are as follows :The switch-box base a which may be of ebonite or other suitable non-conducting material, or may be of malleable iron (sherardized, galvanized or painted) where great strength is required, or of aluminium where lightness is essential, such as in airships, and may be circular in shape, is formed w1th a circular depression and has an upstanding annular flange around the circumference. On the outside of the base a I provide a block adapted to receive a cap a which is fixed on to said block by screws or the like (1 Through the block on the base a are holes for the passage of the cables in into the depression in said base, said holes being of a diameter at their outer ends only slightly in excess of that of the cables. On the face of the block adapted to receive the cap a are bosses through which the holes for the cables pass and in the opposite face of the cap are recesses to receive said bosses both the recesses and the bosses being coned gasket or packing ring. The screwing is.

en continued so as to com-press the gasket or packing ring between the two conical .seatings, which by their shape compress said gasket or packing ring so as to cause it to tightly grip the cable and thus seal any passage around the cable through which gas, water or the like might penetrate. To

keep the gasket or packing ring in this state I of compression its resistance must still be suflicient to prevent the face of the cap from being screwed right down on to the block. The gap left between the cap and the block maybe filled-with a layer of rubber as an additional precaution. Lugs are .pro-

adapted to be screwed on to the annular- 'flange on the base.

In either construction a flexible washer may be interposed between the engaging faces of the cover and block to insure a gas and water tight joint. When the switch is to be used with a conduit instead of a cable no cap will be required as it will only be necessary to screwthread the holes through the block to receive the piping.

For sealing the spindle d at the point where it passes through the circular hole running vertically through the top of the housing a, the diameter of the hole at the outer side of the cover is enlarged to a sufficient depth, and is formed with a conical seating, to receive asket or packing ring 6 which is preferab y treated with graphite. This enlarged hole is screw threaded to receive a conically-shaped nipple e which is adapted to be screwed downon to the gasket or packing ring. The spindle 01' having been inserted throu h the hole in the housing, through the gas et or packing ring and through the nipple e, said nipple e is then screwed down so that the gasket or packing ring becomes compressed between the two conical seatings whereby it is forced out centrally toward and against and tightly around the spindle so as to seal any passage around said spindle through which gas or water might penetrate when the spindle is turned to operate the switch.

A grub or locking screw 0 is provided to lock t e sleeve or nipple e after adjustment.

For securely fixing on the operating key f which is made of any suitable insulating material and to provide additional sealing of the spindle inlet I adopt the following arrangement. I provide the sleeve or nip ple c with a fairly broad head, so that the latter will form a flan e 0 and make the sleeve or nipple of su cient length to al- -low plenty of play in screwing down on to the gasket or packing ring and to allow a clamping annular-shaped cup ring 9 to be inserted under the flanged head 6 before the sleeve or nipple e is screwed down, the nipple e being passed throu h the ring g, and on said floor of the ring may make an inverted V-shaped circular projection to fit into an inverted V-shaped groove in the under side of the flange, or vice versa. I

form on the cylindrical surface of the ring 9 a screw-thread, and I also form a screw thread in the recess in the under side of the operating key 7, so that the ring 9 can be screwed into said operating key. .These screw threads I make to engage so tightly that the engagement of the two parts can only be effected by the exercise of considerable force. This said screwed comiection is relied upon in reversed movement of the handle. In the recessed under side of the. key f is a centrally arranged square socket f adapted to receive the square head (Z of the spindle (i, said socket being preferably provided with a liner. A washer'h of graphite or other suitable packing is inserted between the top of the sleeve or nipple and the recessed under side of the operating key.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an electrical switch of the type specified, the combination with a base and a detachable housing, of an operating key having a recess in which is a square-shaped socket, aspindle for the operating mechanism having a square-shaped head adapt ed to engage the square-shaped recess in said key, a flanged nipple mounted in sald housing and having a concentric depression on the under side of its flange, and an annular cup-shaped ring mounted in the recess in the under side of the operating key and having a concentric projection adapted to engage the concentric depression in' the flange of the nipple.

2. An electrical switch of the type specified, comprising a base adapted to receive an insulated plate carrying the contacts and the make and break mechanism and having an annular screw-threaded flange thereon, a housing having a flange on its lower edge to fit on said screw threaded flange, a screw-threaded ring adapted to engage both said flanges so as to secure the housing to the base, a spindle passing throughthe housing having a squareshaped head and adapted to be fixed to the spindle of the make and-break mechanism, an operating key having a recess in its under side in which is a square-shaped socket adapted to engage the head of the spindle, means for sealing the entry of the spindle through the housing comprising an annular conical seating in the housing, a

conically seated nipple mounted in said housing so as to compress the gasket around the spindle, means for locking said nipplepacking ring encircling said spindle, a

adapted to'be clam said block, .holes 1; rough said cap and block for the-passage of the cables, recesses in said cap and block surrounding the holes through same, packing rings located in said recesses and means for ad uSting the plate 15 in relation to the block for the purpose of compressing said packing rings,

1 WILLIAM ELLERD-STYLES.

d on to the face of 10 

